Oyu Tolgoi to turn Mongolia a commodity giant

Friday, January 18th 04:21 PM IST

Oyu Tolgoi to turn Mongolia a commodity giant

# Mongolia # Oyu Tolgoi # commodity markets # gold mine

Analysts said with the expected $3 billion Tavan Tolgoi IPO this year and commercial production of Oyu Tolgoi to commence in first half 2013, it appears the Mongolia economy is poised to maintain good momentum.

ULAANBAATAR(BullionStreet): With Oyu Tolgoi gold and copper mine set to start commercial production by the middle of this year, Mongolia could become a major player in global commodity markets, analysts said.

Along with the Tavan Tolgoi coal mine, the IMF estimated that export proceeds from these two mines could total $2 billion in 2013, rising to $7 billion by 2020, while Mongolia’s GDP in 2011 was only $8.8 billion.

Mongolia, entirely flanked to the north and south by Russia and China, is the most sparsely populated country in the world. However, the country has vast natural resources with more than 6,000 known mineral deposits of 80 different minerals..

The country is home to rich gold, copper, zinc, uranium, coal, molybdenum and oil reserves and has the potential to become a major player in global commodity markets.

Economic activity in Mongolia has traditionally been based on agriculture and the breeding of livestock.

The economy underwent significant structural changes in the past and has since become increasingly reliant on the mineral sector. Ever since the early 1990’s Mongolia has been on a steady upward path recording real GDP growth every year except for 2009.

Mongolia’s average real GDP growth is projected to be 13.4% annually over the coming 5 years due to mining initiatives, according to IMF’s World Economic Outlook 2012.

Foreign direct investment -the lifeblood of Mongolian economy. Driven by the mining boom, Mongolia hit another historical peak in attracting foreign direct investments (FDI) in 2011.

Total FDI to Mongolia amounted $4.7bn, of which over 80% went to the mining sector, according to World Bank data. China, Canada and Netherlands are the top three investor countries by FDI amount in Mongolia.